Depth of Field

Depth of field is  important when you are taking photos in a studio. It is all about the lighting and composition of the photo which will make it either come out brilliant or really rubbish.

On a cameras lens the depth of field is very narrow so you have to adjust the lens to focus on what you want it to be focused on or it will be blurry.
We did a few examples or how different lighting can effect the photo and what mood it gives off the photo too.

Image 1

The lighting is low key, we have a soft box over the light and it is facing directly above the model.

This really brings out the colour in the models hair, as well as showing the facial details and structure, you need a reflector to get the best result from using this composition.

I really like the composition of this as the hair colour really shines and shows through, it also has a really soft focus on the face as well which doesn't make her features look as harsh.
The only thing I don't like is we had to take this shot a few times to get the real effect we wanted, if I got a shot but I wanted to change little details of it, I could be there for a while making sure I get the image I really want.

Image 2

The lighting is low key, it has a soft box over the light which is behind the model facing the photographer on an angle.

With the light being behind the model, the image comes out as the model really standing forward from any background. If the image comes out really dark then you can turn up the flash, this will really make the hair stand out too having the light shining down on the model. 

I like this image composition as it gives a really nice look to the model, brightening up the models hair at the top gives the rest of the image more detail.
The only thing I don't like about this composition is how it makes the hair look really fair in the image, the rest I really love but I personally am not keen on the hair being so brightly lit up on the top of the head.

Image 3

The lighting is high key, it is a hard light which is facing the white background.

These photos came out really really good! The model had turquoise hair which really came out of the image when we shot it. The image looked like the model really stood out from the background, as the lighting makes the model stand out. The colour of the hair was so vibrant and when you zoomed in the details on the models face were so different to any other composition we used.
I really liked this composition, this was my favourite of the day, it taught me something different and new, showing how we can use lighting to our benefit. Changing little things in the image made a huge difference and I really like the outcome of these pictures.

This ones was really technical to get right too, if the lighting was too dark then you need to change the aperture on the camera, you need to change it so less light gets let in and so the image there fore becomes brighter on the camera. The background lighting makes the pupils go smaller too, so you wont get a red eye effect. The red eye effect happens through the harsh flash going to the back of the pupil and bouncing off the red blood cells in the eye making them appear red.

Image 4

The lighting is high key, it is a hard light shining on the walls/white reflective boards.

The white reflective boards adds more light to the picture, making it brighter and showing more detail on the models face. The boards also give the models eyes a cat eye effect too, the lighting was so beautiful in this picture, the face looked so soft, the details were so nice and the whole image was so different to anything we have shot before.
I loved this image and this composition, it showed us all how using different reflective boards and different compositions in the studio can make different effects on the eyes, skin and facial features.

Shooting at Home

When you are working at home you can think it will be difficult but if you have a round idea of what to do, what you want to achieve and if you have a nice space to use then you can still get a good shot of something.
Having a basic wall which is cream/white will give you good surface to have a light shining on to, giving you light which can reflect back on to/into your shot.
Then opposite that your background can hang on the wall on where ever you can get it. 

We did a practice of this composition in the studio, a black background with the light reflecting off and using a reflective under the camera to give the model some light on to the face and hair. 

The shot looked really beautiful, her lips were so vibrant, her hair colour really stood out from the black background too. It showed ne a really interesting way to shoot at home, proving to me that it can be done and you can produce images that you can produce in a studio, but at home.

White Balance

Auto - the camera will automatically adjust the white balance settings to what light is it in so you don't need to change it, unless you want a certain mood in an image you would change the settings.

Shade - If you are shooting an image and there is a lot of shade, the white balance will change the blue tones, which are found in the shade and change them to reds and oranges to brighten up the picture.

Cloudy - You would use this setting when you are shooting on a cloudy dull day or you can even use it when you are shooting portraits. This is a very similar setting to the Daylight mode, but it will add warmer hues in to the picture which are what you would want in landscape and portrait pictures.

Daylight - This setting you would use when you shooting in direct sunlight and it is hitting your subject, it will add warm tones in to the shot to make it less bright.

Tungsten - This setting is the best one to use when you are shooting at home, the setting will take out the warmer yellow tones from the image and swap them for cooler blue and purple tones.

Florescent -  This setting is for florescent lighting which is found in offices and gyms, the setting will take out the cool tones and add more warmth in to them by adding orange and red tones.

Flash - This setting is basically the same as the daylight one, the flash or the light directly on the subject but it is a little softer than the daylight setting, it adds cooler tones as well as warmth.

Boom

A boom is a set of equipment that you will see in larger studios, they are more commonly used in the larger studios than smaller ones. It is a pole which is on a stand with 3 legs on the bottom on the stand. There is a light attached on one end of the pole and the other end there is a weight. The weight on one side holds the light where it needs to be in the air, in the middle of the pole where it joins to the base there is a tightener, it also keeps the pole where it needs to be. Where the legs are the pole needs to be directing in the same way as one of the legs or it will topple over. 

On the light you can add what ever lighting you want, a soft box, a hard light or a beauty dish etc. You need to be really careful of the wire that will attach in to the light so always use an extension lead when using this piece of equipment or someone could trip in the studio and then you could be to blame, you will lose out on money for the studio, booking the model, the make up and hair artists etc. So making sure the equipment is set up correctly and safely is always important.